Languages

There is growing concern about young people’s apparent lack of interest and involvement in politics and in civil society. Many people are looking to the internet for the solution to this problem of ‘civic disconnection’. But will it really provide the answer?

Our research asks:Are young people really not interested or involved – or are they actually participating in different ways?How might the internet motivate them to become more civically engaged?How might it change the nature of their involvement?How does participation online relate to participation offline?How might organisations use the web more effectively to encourage more civic information, understanding and engagement?

CIVICWEB is a research project funded by the European Union (Framework 6).The main aims are to study:

the production of civic sites,

the nature and characteristics of the sites,

how different social groups of young people use and interpret such sites

the relationship between online activity and civic participation ‘offline’.

The following organisations are working together on CIVICWEB:

Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media, Institute of Education (LKL), University of London (IoE) (co-ordinator)Media constitute youth and children’s most significant leisure-time pursuit. This centre organises research into and teaching about how diverse groups of children and young people use and make media. We believe that public debate on these issues needs to be informed by serious, in-depth research. CSCYM is co-ordinating CIVICWEB.